Car-fender.



W. E. GREWS.

GAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 1911. Q

Patented June 18, 1912.

if 10 a i Inventor Witnesses I m Attorneys WILLIAM E. GREWS, 0F TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA.

CAR-FENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1912.

Application filed June 7, 1911. Serial No. 631,778.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, IVILLIAM E. Onnws, a citizen of the United States, residing at Terre Haute, in the county of Vigo and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Car-Fender, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to car fenders and its object is to provide a device of this character having a movable extension under the control of the motorman and which can be quickly shifted downwardly so as to travel on the rails and thus prevent persons from passing under the fender.

Another object is to provide adevice of.

this character which can be readily attached to the platform of the car.

" A still further object is to provide a Z'Jfender which is simple and compact in construction and which will not readily get outof order.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings :Figure l is a central vertical section through a fender constructed in accordance with the present invention, the same being attached to the front platform of a car. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the platform and showing the fender in rear elevation. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the fender connected to the car body.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference A designates the platform of a car and on which is arranged a standard 1 having an operating lever 2 fulcrumed therein, said lever extending through and below the platform A and having a handle 3 at its upper end, there being a catch 4 or the like supported adjacent the upper end of said lever and which serves to hold said lever normally in a predetermined position.

A foot plate 5 preferably extends rearwardly from the lower portion of the lever 2 so that the actuation of said lever can be eifectedby pressing downwardly thereon as soon as the upper end of the lever has been released from the catch 4.

An angle iron 6 is bolted or otherwise secured to the bottom of the platform A and extends transversely of said platform, the depending flange of this iron serving to secure the upper ends of downwardly and forwardly curved strips 7 of metal and which terminate at their forward ends in eyes 8. A pivot rod 9 is secured at its ends within these eyes. These strips 7 are located at the ends and at intermediate points on the iron 6 and strips 7 are connected at intermediate points by cross slats 10 also.

preferably formed of metal. Inclined braces 11 connect intermediate portions of certain of the strips 7 with the platform A and a plate 12 is secured to said platform and has an inclined brace 13 integral therewith and extending downwardly and forwardly therefrom and attached to the middle portions of certain of the slats 10. A guide loop 15 is secured to one of the slats 10 adjacent the lower portion of the fender and a rod 16 is slidably mounted within this loop and is connected at its rear end to the lower end of a lever 17. Said lever is fulcrumed within the brace 13 and its upper end is pivotally connected to the rod 18 attached to the lower end of the lever 2.

An extension apron is pivotally connected to the front end of the body portion of the fender and consists of parallel curved strips 19 connected by cross slats 20, two or more of said strips being pivotally mounted on the rod 9. An arm 21 extends from the middle portion of the apron and has a link 22 pivotally connected to it, said link being alsopivotally attached to the front end of the rod 16. A recess 23 is formed in the link at an intermediate point, and is adapted, when the apron is swung to its uppermost position, to receive the rod 9 as shown in Fig. 1. Brackets 24 are secured to the apron and have rollers 25 ournaled in them, these rollers being spaced apart a distance equal to that between the rails so that, when the apron is lowered, the rollers will come into contact with and ride upon the rails. Stop ears 26 extend from the hinge end of the apron and are adapted, when said apron is swung downwardly, to bear upwardly against the front portion of the body of the fender so as to limit the downward swinging movement of the apron.

If desired, and as shown in Fig. 2, a slot 27 may be formed within the middle portion of the depending flange of the angle iron 6 so as to permit the rod 18 to lie close to the platform A.

When the lever 2 is pressed forward into engagement with the catch 41, the lower end of the lever 17 is pushed forward and presses rod 16 against the link 22 so as to cause the apron or extension of the fender to swing upwardly into the position shown by full lines in Fig. 1.

Should it be desired to quickly lower the extension, the motorman presses the lever 2 laterally at its upper end so as to be released from the catch 4 or he pushes downwardly on the foot plate 5 or pulls backwardly on the handle 3 so as to cause the lower end of lever 17 to pull on the rod 16. Said rod will swing the link 22 rearwardly so as to bring the recessed portion 23 against the rod 9, which thus acts as a fulcrum and causes the link 22 to swing the extension forwardly and downwardly. The wheels 25 will thus be brought into contact with the rails and the stop ears 26 will move against the body of the fender. As the front edge portion of the extension is curved downwardly, it will prevent any object from passing between the rails and the fender.

It will be seen that the device is very simple in construction, can be readily attached to a car, and is especially advantageous because of the ease with which the extension can be shifted, and because of the efficiency of said extension as a guard to prevent objects from passing under the body of the fender.

It is to be understood that if desired the apron can be carried with its front edge but slightly raised above the bottom of the fender so that, when the weight of an object is brought against the front edge or top of the apron, said apron will drop to the rails, this movement resulting in the release of the operating lever from the catch which holds it normally in place.

Various changes can be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

\Vhat is claimed is 1. A car fender includin a body portion, an extension, a pivot rod engaging said body portion and extension, a link pivotally connected to the extension, said link having a recessed portion, and manually operated means for shifting the recessed portion of the link into engagement with the pivot rod and for swinging said link with the rod as its fulcrum to lower the extension relative to the body portion.

2. A car fender including abody portion, an extension, a pivot rod engaging the extension and body portion, rollers carried by the extension for contacting with the rails on which the car is mounted, a link pivotally connected to the extension, means for shifting the link against the rod and for swinging said link to lower the extension, and stop devices upon the extension and movable against the body portion.

3. A car fender including a slotted angle iron for attachment to a car platform, a fender body secured to and depending from said angle iron, an extension hinged'ly connected to the fender body, a brace secured to an intermediate portion of the body and adapted to be connected to a car platform, a lever fulcrumed upon the brace, a connect1on between sald lever and the extension,

and lever operating means guided withinthe slotted angle iron.

4. A car fender including a body portion, an extension hingedly connected to the. forward end thereof, means on the extension and cooperating with said body portion for limiting the swinging movement of the extension in one direct-ion relative to the body portion, a recessed link movably connected to the extension, a slidable member connected to the link, a guide therefor and upon the body portion,'and means for actuating the member in one direction to shift the recessed portion of the link into engagement with the body portion and to swingthe link tolower the extension relative to said portion.

5. A car fender including a body portion, an extension hingedly connected to the forward end thereof, a rearwardly extending brace upon said body portion, a brace for connecting thebody to a car structure, a lever fulcrumed within the brace, means for actuating the lever, a link connected to the hinged extension, a rod connection between the lever and link, and a guide upon the body portion within which said connection is mounted.

6. A car fender including'a body portion, an extension hingedly connected to the forward end thereof, a rearwardly extending bracket upon said body portion, aforked brace for connecting the body to a car structure, a lever fulcrumed within the brace, means for actuating the lever, a link connected to the hinged extension, a rod connection between the lever and link, and a guide upon the body portion within which said connection is mounted.

In testimony that'I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto'aiiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM E. GREVVS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

